Military Grain City, Command Center.

Erjin held his pipe in his mouth with a gloomy expression and smoked silently. Although he had long guessed that the Qing naval warships were equipped with new rear-mounted rifled guns, he received a telegram from the Russians, confirming this and confirming that the Qing navy did have enough strength to block the Bohaikou, which was still a little difficult for him to accept.

After a long time, Ge Luo said quietly: "Let's talk to Yuan Qi?"

"Do you think that in this situation, Yuan Qi will talk to us about peace?" Erjin rolled his eyes and said disdainfully: "Even if Yuan Qi accepts the peace talks, we cannot accept the conditions offered!"

This time Britain started a war against the Qing Dynasty, not only to seize more interests in the Qing Dynasty, but also involved Britain's interests in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Malacca. In this case, the peace talks with Yuanqi must be a lion, asking for a price everywhere! This is also the reason why he did not consider the peace talks with Yuanqi.

"The Qing Navy can blockade the Bohaikou and easily destroy our main fleet. There is no need to continue this battle." Ge Luo said in a deep voice: "Even if we negotiate with the Qing court, we cannot change this result."

"I don't agree with your opinion." Erjin said slowly: "Indeed, the Qing Navy has the strength to block the Bohaikou, but it may not be sure to defeat our fleet. Or, in other words, even if the Qing Navy has the strength to defeat us, it will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

If the Qing Navy had the strength to easily defeat the main force of our fleet, they would not have blocked the Bohaikou, but directly entered the Bohai Sea, and damaged or destroyed the main force of our fleet!

In addition, when we negotiated peace with the Qing court, or even formed an alliance, we had an overwhelming advantage in land warfare, which was enough to force Yuan Qi to withdraw his troops from Tianjin. Only when we reached this point could we negotiate peace with Yuan Qi as an equal status!”

After hearing this, Ge Luo was energetic and swept away his decadence and sluggishness before. Indeed, if the Qing Navy really had the strength to easily defeat their main fleet, it would not just block the Bohaikou, but rushed in to severely damage or annihilate their fleet. Why block the Bohaikou? It is obvious that the Qing Navy was not sure, or could not bear too much loss.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "In this case, how big is it possible for us to form an alliance with the Qing court?"

"It's big!" Erjin said confidently: "As long as we can help the Qing court fight against Yuan Qi, the Qing court will definitely be very happy to form an alliance with us. They should be very clear that Yuan Qi's next target is them!"

As soon as the words were finished, a communication officer stepped in quickly and said loudly: "Report——General Grant urgently reported that the new army of Tianjin Yuanqi has launched a large-scale out of the city and gathered in the Zizhulin area, suspected of attacking the position."

Grant led more than 10,000 British-Dutch coalition forces to restrain Yuanqi's troops in the western suburbs of Tianjin. It has been a while since Yuanqi won't fight sooner or later, but he just picked him to fight at this time? What is the reason? Erjin pondered for a while before saying, "Order Grant and send someone to negotiate with Yuanqi!"

Ge Luo was stunned when he heard this. Didn’t he not negotiate with Yuan Qi? After a while, he realized that he was using the negotiation to delay time! The communication officer who was waiting for him to step back, and he said, “Yuan Qi is afraid he won’t be fooled.”

"The fleet has not returned yet and cannot reinforce Tianjin. It can only delay time through negotiations. Moreover, negotiations with the Qing court also take time." Erjin said in a deep voice: "I went to Tianjin to negotiate in person and express my sincerity..."

"I'll go to Tianjin." Gro volunteered to go to Tianjin as his French envoy, even if he couldn't reach an agreement, he would not be in danger of his life. At most, he would be detained, but Erkin could not be detained.

Majiakou, south of Tianjin City.

Wu Yundong stood on the temporary observation deck holding a telescope and observing the British position opposite. After a while, he put down the telescope and sighed inwardly. This battle was not easy to fight. The British army obviously knew their situation. The fortifications built were not only perfect but also very open. Twenty warships were also moored on the Haihe River. If this hard bone was gnawed, the casualties would not be small.

"Military Gate." The brigade commander Sun Youwang, standing behind him, said with a serious expression: "The British army's trench fortifications are very complete. If you want to attack for a strong force, you must mobilize more mortars."

Wu Yundong heard the fear and felt embarrassed in his words, looked back at him and said, "I have been raising troops for a thousand days. This combat mission was obtained by me from the shopkeeper. It is also the first tough battle for our troops. Even if it is filled with human lives, it must be taken down for me! If you are not sure, I will exchange the main attack mission for 203rd Brigade..."

After hearing this, Sun Youwang didn't dare to talk too much. He quickly raised his chest and said loudly: "I promise to complete the task and dare not let down the high expectations of the military!"

"This battle must be awesome for me, don't let others underestimate us!" Wu Yundong said slowly: "Land war artillery and mortar, I will try my best to fight for you, but I cannot rely on the advantages of firearms, use my brain more, and come up with a combat plan as soon as possible!"

"Sir, obey the order!" Sun Youwang said hurriedly.

In Tianjin City, the Coastal Defense Office and Command Center.

Lin Meilian quickly walked to the door and reported: "The shopkeeper, the British and French coalition forces sent to contact officials and submit a note."

After taking the note, Yi Zhizu frowned slightly. He was just preparing to attack the British position outside the city, but the other party couldn't wait to ask for a truce to negotiate, and the heavyweight figure, the French special envoy Baron Gross. Is this trying to delay time? Or is it because it proved that the South China Sea Navy has the ability to block the Bohaikou and change its strategy, hoping to end the war with a decent amount through negotiations?

"The big shopkeeper, you might as well meet this Baron Gros." Zhao Wenlie said slowly: "Look at the other party's constitution? If we can force the four-national coalition forces to surrender, we will not lose a good talk."

Force the four-nation coalition forces to surrender? This may be not without it. The Bohaikou was blocked. Yuanqi did have this capital to force the four-nation coalition forces to surrender! Yi Zhizu pondered for a while before saying: "Reply to the other party and agreed to the truce negotiations. The time is set at 10 am tomorrow, and the location is at the Coast Defense Office. Warn the other party that no military action is allowed during the negotiations."

He was not worried that the other party would delay time. The more than 10,000 British troops outside Tianjin were the flesh on their lips and could not escape. The reason why he was preparing to attack was to give the four-national coalition a little color and weaken the other party's strength. At the same time, he also shocked Britain, France and the court. From Yuan Qi's standpoint, he did not want the court to collude with Britain, France, whether from the current situation or the long-term perspective.

At nine o'clock the next morning, Ge Luo and his party entered Tianjin and rushed to the coastal defense office. At 10 o'clock, Yishisu, Guiliang took Zhao Wenlie and Lin Meilian into the temporary conference room.

Both sides introduced that they would sit down when they saw the gift. Yi Zhizu directly handed over a truce clause drafted last night. "This is the truce clause proposed by our country. Please see. If you can agree, let's continue to talk, otherwise, don't waste time."

After taking over the truce clause, he opened the first article - all the British, French, Western and Dutch coalition forces in the Qing Dynasty surrendered. Gross browed and hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, we cannot accept the conditions for surrender."

"Then let's fight." Yi Zhizu looked indifferent and said, "The same result will be the same when the fight ends."

Grohe hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your country has a saying, 'Kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of them.' If the war continues, it will mean huge casualties for both of us."

"Kill one thousand enemies, and lose eight hundred of them?" Yi Zhizu's mouth curled, "The battle between Zhangjiawan and Miaodao Straits, the battle between the two sides should be clear, right? It's less than 10 to 1."

Gro looked at him and said, "You should know that this is not a normal battle loss ratio."

The Battle of Zhangjiawan and the Battle of Miaodao Strait are indeed not a normal battle-loss ratio. Yi Zhizu also knows that if you really want to fight a positional war or a large-scale annihilation war, the battle-loss ratio is definitely much higher. After all, the weapon gap between the two sides is not very big, and the other side is also an elite army. Many participating troops have participated in the Crimean War.

"We can withstand one-to-five, one-to-three, or even one-to-one war losses." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "My Qing Dynasty has a population of 400 million, and the least feared thing is to compare population consumption. You should know that a qualified soldier can be trained in three months."

After listening to the translation, Ge Luo couldn't help but curse secretly. Only when his mind was broken would he compare with the Qing Dynasty! He stopped saying a word and looked down at the truce clause. The second clause also scared him, and he compensated the war military expenditure of 10 million taels of gold! The third article was to ced the Strait of Malacca and Bangladesh.

The following few are formally signed with Spain and the Netherlands to seize Luzon, Java Islands and trade terms. He didn't have the heart to look closely, looked up at Yi Zhizu and said, "I came to Tianjin this time with full sincerity. I hope that through negotiations, we both sides will end this war decently."

"End this war with decent end?" Yi Zhizu sarcastically said: "If you can't win this war, you hope to end this war with decent ending? If you win, will you give us the chance to end this war with decent ending?

More than ten years ago, the British invaded, and we lost that war. Did the British give us decent? Cut land, pay compensation, open trade ports...."

Hearing this, Gui Liang couldn't say anything. He came to participate in the negotiations today. It was specially invited by Yi Zhizu and approved by Xianfeng. He only planned to listen with his ears. I have to say that Yi Zhizu's truce drafted was strong and his momentum was even more powerful. This was really a relief!

Gro was speechless by these words. After all, the British were the ones who were in front of them. Now they are just learning. However, the words are too big. The British are just stolen. They can't say stolen. They just rented a small Hong Kong island. But you should have to stolen the Strait of Malacca and Bangladesh, and compensate the war military expenses to as much as 10 million taels of gold.

This is no longer a sky-high price, but he doesn't want to negotiate at all! Fortunately, he almost had to come to Tianjin for the purpose of his own, and immediately said: "Ten million taels of gold, this is an unheard of war reparation..."

Yi Zhizuo had a patience with him, and only found an excuse to leave after noon, leaving Guiliang and Zhao Wenlie to accompany him to talk. This negotiation cannot be said to be useless. The war is over and the treaty will definitely be signed. This negotiation is considered to have set a framework first, which will also make the other party mentally prepared.

After the great victory in Tongzhou and Zhangjiawan, the Yuanqi New Army and the Eight Banners New Army advanced to Xianghe. Tongzhou has become a large army's baggage transfer war. At a glance, they all wear new military uniforms or Eight Banners Green Camp coats.

A cavalry team of more than 100 people rushed from the direction of Xianghe. The horses were all wearing red tasseled hats and horn jackets. At a glance, you could tell that it was the Eight Banners Green Camp responsible for patrolling. No one would have thought that the British and French negotiating delegations were mixed in.

Outside the south gate, Wang Shuyuan, the front hall garden, the imperial envoy, Prince Shuoyi, Zaiyuan, the Minister of Rites Baofeng, sat in a pavilion in casual clothes, drinking tea and watching the scenery. Hearing the sound of horse hooves outside the garden, Zaiyuan took out his pocket watch and looked at it, saying, "It's not slow."

Soon, a military officer came quickly and bowed to him and said, "Report to the prince, the English mission has arrived, but they asked to take a bath and change clothes first."

"Take them there and arrange another table of seats." Zaiyuan said slowly. He and Baofeng had arrived in the morning. It was two hours earlier. In order to show the court's attention to this negotiation, Xianfeng deliberately appointed Prince Yi Zaiyuan and Baofeng as chief and deputy imperial envoys to Tongzhou to negotiate with the British and French delegation.

Baxiali and his party took a bath and changed their clothes. Feng JuanCanyun ate the table and hurriedly asked to start the negotiations. It was not their fault. It was because Erjin urged him to start the negotiations as soon as possible.

He was taken into a hall and saw Prince Heshuoyi Zaiyuan wearing a dynasty suit. Ba Xiali couldn't help but feel excited. He came to China in the 21st year of Daoguang. He was really a Chinese master. When he saw the five-clawed golden dragon pattern embroidered on the other party's official robe, he knew that the person was noble.

As soon as he heard that the introduction was Prince Shuo Yi, he knew that the Qing court attached great importance to this negotiation. Both sides took a seat when they introduced him. Zaiyuan said calmly: "I heard that French envoy Gros has gone to Tianjin to negotiate with Yuanqi?"

Baxiali didn't know about this, but he knew Erjin's intention very well and immediately said: "The negotiation with Yuanqi is just to delay time, so the prince doesn't have to mind."

Baofeng continued: "Your side proposed negotiations, don't you know how sincere it is?"
Chapter completed!